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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25648786">Till the end of Winter (Until the flower blooms)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aquawynter/pseuds/Aquawynter'>Aquawynter</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aged-Up Character(s), Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety/Panic Attack, Character Death, Mention of accident/injuries, Multi, Single Parent AU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 12:35:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>13,451</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25648786</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aquawynter/pseuds/Aquawynter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Hinata has a very twisted relationship with Winter. It played the witness to the most important memories to his life, some that he wanted to run away from but was caught in the merciless hands off.</p><p> </p><p>Hinata longed for the Spring, that seemed hopeless but definitely not out of reach. (Single Parent)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shouyou/Yachi Hitoka</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>39</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Till the end of Winter (Until the flower blooms)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was the result of my Kagehina brainrot I had for the past week and hence very incoherent. Also it's Hinayachi with an endgame Kagehina so pls bear with me.</p><p>Since this was a result of my brainrot and while I did do some research, I had to change some facts to suit the plot of the story so there will be a lot of real life inaccuracies. If they bother you, I'm sorry.</p><p>As usual, the characters belong to Furudate Haruichi and the series, Haikyuu. I'm just a mere homosapien that wants to cry.</p><p>TRIGGER WARNING: CHARACTER DEATH, MENTIONS OF ACCIDENT, INJURIES, TRAUMA, ANXIETY AND PANIC ATTACKS. (I KEPT THE RATING AT 'T' JUST IN CASE)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was Winter when Hinata met Yachi for the first time.</p><p> </p><p>He was 21 and was the recently recruited member of the team MSBY Black Jackals and he couldn’t be happier. Yachi was an intern at the ad design company who was in charge of designing the poster for the team or more specifically, the individual introduction poster for him.</p><p> </p><p>Yachi was over-worked and she knew it. Her senior co-workers always dumped extra work onto her because she was an “intern” and that it’s her job. They didn’t even bother to listen to her when she told them that there was a new client that they needed to get the shots and design a mock poster and submit it as early as possible.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re talented, aren’t you, Yachi-san. Besides, Christmas is right around the corner. If you aren’t busy, handle this for us.” Yachi was bad at making excuses and even worse at lying that she just accepted it grimly.</p><p> </p><p>She knew V-League was huge. She heard from her ailing father, who was divorced from her mother that her elder step brother, the son of the woman her dad had married before he was engaged to her mother, was a Division 1 Volleyball player and that he has a celebrity status (His behaviour, not so much). But the scale of how large of a project it was didn’t hit her until she was making her way down the corridor and the walls were lined with posters upon posters over the years, League Divisions 1, 2 and 3, World cups, Olympics.</p><p> </p><p>Her mind started running wild with thoughts ‘<em>Why did my senpais give such a huge responsibility to me. This is what great grand professionals do. I’m an ant in comparison. And this is a new player’s I have to do? What if I don’t do it properly? His career’s introduction and the presentation lay on my hands. I’ve done my research on different angles and stuff on how to do it but what if people don’t like it-’</em></p><p>
  
</p><p>“Yacchan?” a voice exclaimed at the sight of her standing in the room surrounded by tall men at least twice her height.</p><p> </p><p>“B-Bokuto-san?”</p><p> </p><p>“What are you doing here? Are you here to help out with Hinata’s poster?”</p><p> </p><p>“Actually I’m in charge of it.” she mumbled.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s great. I’m so proud of you. You have grown so much that you would be designing posters professionally and that too, for my team member. I knew it, you were amazing.”</p><p> </p><p>“Everyone, this is my younger sister, Yachi Hitoka. She is my step sister and I’ve known her for like, a year, but she’s the best.” Bokuto beamed with joy while Yachi shrunk at the attention being cast upon her but she tried not to hide away, ‘You’re a professional’ she reminded herself.</p><p> </p><p>“Hinata, you’re so lucky, my talented younger sister will be designing, isn’t it cool.”</p><p> </p><p>“I get my own poster.” a young man with boyish looks, orange hair flowing down his forehead beamed brightly. If Bokuto beamed with pride, the orange haired man beamed with happiness, radiant as the sun. His name suited him well, she thought.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m looking forward to working with you. Please make an amazing poster for me.” he bowed down and smiled widely at her.</p>
<hr/><p>Nearly two hours and almost a hundred different poses and shots later, Yachi slumped on the floor, seemingly more tired than Hinata, who was prancing around the court the entire time.</p><p> </p><p>“No, no, this is not it” she mumbled to herself, going through the photos she had collected for reference of volleyball players around the world, in her tablet.</p><p> </p><p>“Yachi-san?” Hinata called out.</p><p> </p><p>“Uhh”</p><p> </p><p>“Are we done yet?”</p><p> </p><p>“I think this is enough, I have picked a couple of them which I think I can work with”</p><p> </p><p>“Give me two minutes, I’ll be back.” He announced drinking water from the couple of water bottles that were lined up. It was already darker than usual, considering it was winter and Hinata, Yachi and the photographer were the only ones that were in the entire gymnasium. The squeak of his shoes across the wooden floor and their voices echoed lightly across the wide room.</p><p> </p><p>“Wha-”</p><p> </p><p>“You aren’t satisfied with the shots you took weren’t you? Let’s do more until you get ‘the one’” Yachi’s co-worker, the photographer, just silently stared at the two mentally praying that the two would be done so that he can get back home early.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not tired” Hinata beamed although he was slightly panting, with a towel around his neck and sweat beads in his forehead and eyebrows gleaming under the light.</p><p> </p><p>“Hinata, Hi-, Hi meaning sun”</p><p> </p><p>“Uh?”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re name means sun, right Hinata-san?”</p><p> </p><p>“I guess?” he said unsure of himself.</p><p> </p><p>“Then that will do” she said. Her mind had different ideas, fonts, layers and colors and the different poses and the backgrounds floating around but she didn’t know how to put them both together.</p><p> </p><p>Hi- meant the sun. As he jumped, she could make it as if he was reaching for the sun and the rays from the ‘sun’ could be incorporated as if it were emitting from the ball. All she needed to do was to get the lighting right and then get down to work. It seemed as if the puzzle pieces for the same puzzle that were haphazardly laying around was neatly arranged in front of her and only needed to be put together.</p><p> </p><p>She immediately skimmed through the 100 plus images that she had saved and showed him the one that she seemed satisfied with. “Can you raise your arm like, like this?”</p><p> </p><p>“Alright” he said and got back to the court immediately. After instructing the photographer, the shot was taken. It was as if time was flowing slow as she witnessed Hinata taking flight like a bird and hit the ball fluidly and landing smoothly on the wooden floor without even the squeak of his shoes.</p><p> </p><p>The shot turned out perfect.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“Yacchan, Hinata wanted to meet you” Yachi almost spat out the water she was drinking.</p><p> </p><p>“It was ruined wasn’t it? That’s why I didn’t open the social media. Fans are going to eat me up. I told my manager it was a mock poster and that I have the shots but they didn’t listen and went ahead with my mock poster. I’m going to get fired; Hinata’s career is ruined-”</p><p> </p><p>“Yacchan, it was a huge hit”</p><p> </p><p>“Eh”</p><p> </p><p>“Hinata, you said you wanted to meet Yachhan right. She came to visit dad at the hospital, why don’t you come to the Onigri shop we used to go” Before Yachi could say anything Bokuto had already set up a meeting for them and Hinata.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“And then Atsumu-san was like ‘My poster was lame and maybe I should also ask Yacchan to do it for me’ and then there were so many foreign people whose comments were in English but then I translated them and it  was saying that I look so cool and they want to see me play so soon. That’s so…cool.”</p><p> </p><p>Hinata was speaking so fast Yachi had trouble keeping up with him. But she was happy, extremely happy. Hinata liked the poster and judging by what he is saying, a lot of people like it as well and people from around the world saw her poster. She felt her head getting lighter as the words slowly sunk onto her.</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you Yachi-san” he met her eyes and gave a wide grin, that somehow was different from the usual grin that he had on his face. His words and smile were filled with sincerity.</p><p> </p><p>Her heart skipped a beat. She didn’t know why.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>It was still Winter, two days after New Year when Hinata asked Yachi out. It was an accident though.</p><p> </p><p>They have known each other for about half a month but often crossed paths ever since Bokuto found out that their practise gymnasium was near Yachi’s office and he would often meet up to talk to his sister.</p><p> </p><p>Although she wasn’t aware of the fact that he was her step brother until recently, he was aware of her but never knew more than what her dad had told him and ‘he had always wanted a younger sibling’ so he treated her so, except, he can be overbearing at times.</p><p> </p><p>“Yacchan, let’s have dinner”</p><p>“Yacchan it’s late. Let me take you home”</p><p> </p><p>And ever since he found out that she works ungodly hours at night, he made sure that she got the train on time or would make sure that she got into the taxi safely.</p><p> </p><p>And after she had let him know that she had more work to do since it was around festive season, he had accepted to practice a little more later into the night so that he could accompany her. And Hinata was always accompanying Bokuto during his late night practices.</p><p> </p><p>“Yachi-san, let’s have dinner” Bokuto was down with flu and he had entrusted the duty of taking care of his sister onto Hinata’s hands for two days when he was recovering. However, Yachi, who was unaware of the sudden change of plans, was thrown off loop by his words.</p><p> </p><p>“Hinata-san, you are a professional volleyball player, what if your fans try to kill me? And you are amazing and talented and you have a good personality. You can definitely find someone better than me-”</p><p> </p><p>“Yachi-san, I meant to have dinner alone, without Boktuo-san”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s what I’m saying Hi-”</p><p> </p><p>“No, no, not like that. Bokuto san was not feeling well today so he left home early” Yachi took out her phone from her jacket and saw that Bokuto had called her four times and left twelve messages for the same.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry, Hinata, I’m sorry, I’m extremely sorry. I misjudged you so quickly.”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s okay”</p><p> </p><p>Without Bokuto around, Hinata filled up on her on what happened during the day but her mind wouldn't process anything further than the embarrassment she suffered from minutes ago. They went through three shops, including the regulars and saw that all of them were closed. </p><p> </p><p>“Yachi-san, I know a shop but it isn’t a restaurant. So we need to sit out and eat, is it alright?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah” she responded absent mindedly, thinking of excuses she can make to avoid meeting him in the future to reduce the awkwardness between them caused by <em>her.</em></p><p> </p><p>“You know Yachi-san” he began, as both of them sat in the small bench in front of the food stall, holding a steaming bowl in his hand “You aren’t a bad person as you make yourself to be. You are an amazing yourself. Even if I were to date someone, I think I wouldn’t mind if it was you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Eh?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not asking you out. I’m just letting you know”</p><p> </p><p>“And how is that different?”</p><p> </p><p>“I-um, maybe I should rephrase it” Hinata flushed, the tip of his ears and cheeks turning redder by the second.</p><p> </p><p>And for some reason, both of them started laughing, their laughter carried across the park into the snowy night.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>It was winter when Hinata proposed to Yachi.</p><p> </p><p>They were dating for two years and Hinata decided that’s what he wanted the day they moved in together in the apartment. Everything was just perfect. He was already a regular for the team despite being one of the youngest and was practising for the World Cup try outs. He lived with his girlfriend whom he loved very much, who was quickly climbing up the ranks of her company.</p><p> </p><p>Both their lives were smooth sailing and he couldn’t ask for anything better. When he was thinking what’s next, the answer just came naturally.</p><p> </p><p>But before that, he had to talk to Bokuto in order to avoid getting killed. Bokuto pounced on Hinata the day he revealed that he was dating Yachi, a poorly kept secret for three months but that was because Bokuto was oblivious and his teammates had to point it out to him.</p><p> </p><p>He secretly followed them on their dates, twice and Atsumu had to drag him back, twice and became very cautious and always hovering over Hinata to make sure he doesn’t do anything <em>bad</em>.</p><p> </p><p>When Hinata told Bokuto that he was planning on proposing to Yachi, Atsumu swore he saw his soul leaving his body. After an hour long lecture filled with tears, Bokuto ran out of energy to continue further, just started sobbing.</p><p> </p><p>“Shoyo, if you were to get married, where do you want it to be in?” Hinata blanked out, the sentence echoing in his hollow mind.</p><p> </p><p>“Hi..Hitoka, why are you asking me stuff like this? Did Bokuto-san tell you anything?”</p><p> </p><p>“Why would he say anything? I need ideas for a wedding planner project I have and I needed views from a guy’s perspective.”</p><p> </p><p>“Uh …ohh” he said. <em>Did she notice anything weird?</em></p><p> </p><p>“Shoyo?”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it. I was planning on letting you select it so I didn’t think much about it. I’m okay with anything as long as you are okay with it. As for a normal guy, I don’t have much of an idea”</p><p> </p><p>Yachi stared vacantly at him.</p><p> </p><p>“Shoyo, what…what do you mean by ‘letting me plan’?”</p><p> </p><p>“If we get married” his voice became small and trailed off.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you proposing?” Yachi shrieked, almost dropping the tablet in her hand.</p><p> </p><p>“Wha-…No, I still haven’t gotten the ring yet”</p><p> </p><p>“You were planning on getting a ring?”</p><p> </p><p>“Of course, I still haven’t gotten it yet? Can you wait till I get the ring?” Hinata looked at her earnestly however, his fingers were jittery.</p><p> </p><p>“Shoyo” she called out in a small, sweet voice “I’ll marry you”</p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>It was Winter when Hinata and Yachi got married. It was simple yet perfect, just like their relationship.</p><p> </p><p>The park they had their first ‘date’, the park they have hung out regularly, Yachi complaining about a superior or Hinata talking about his practice, their simple dates of hand holding and soft forehead kisses shared, the same park was where Yachi suggested they get married and Hinata had no objections.</p><p> </p><p>They got married two months after Hinata’s unofficial proposal and his official proposal one week later. Since they had planned for a simple wedding, they did not see the need to postpone their wedding to a different date and handle the public fuss dragging along the news.</p><p> </p><p>It was at evening, but darker than usual. Close family and friends were there in attendance and you can hear Bokuto crying somewhere into Akaashi’s shoulder, saying how proud he is of both of them.</p><p> </p><p>By the time champagne and soft melody started flowing in the air and Hinata held her in his arms, soft crystals of snow started falling from the sky, but not too harsh, dancing in the dim golden light cast upon by the fairy lights surrounding the trees. The sight looked like it was taken straight out of a fairy tale.</p><p> </p><p>It looked ethereal. Just like the couple who danced underneath it.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>It was Winter when Hinata and Yachi were supposed to welcome their daughter.</p><p> </p><p>Hinata was off to Brazil, where it was currently summer, for his Olympic training. Yachi was at her mother’s house because Hinata didn’t want her to be alone when she was pregnant. He had promised her that he would be back at least one month before their daughter was born.</p><p> </p><p>He talked to his team Manager, who reminded him that he was set to leave in two days. And to make up for the remaining month of practice he would be missing, he dove deeper into the practice, practising for hours together, late at night or very early in the morning, begging his teammates to accompany him.</p><p> </p><p>The moment he set his foot in Japan, something felt off. Did he leave anything behind? He triple checked to make sure he didn’t. Besides his teammates are still there, they could bring back something if he did so.</p><p> </p><p>But no, it was something else. He felt discomfort that he wasn’t able to put it into words. He took a taxi home and checked his phone that has been off the entire time he had been on the flight.</p><p> </p><p>There were multiple missed calls and messages from Madoka Yachi.</p><p> </p><p>He opened the message and the phone which he held on his hand dropped.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Hitoka was in an accident. She has been taken to the hospital. Please come as soon as you can.</em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>It was Winter when Yachi Hitoka’s life was no longer in this world. And it was the same Winter when Hinata Koume was born.</p><p> </p><p>It has been 4 years since the dreadful Winter. Koume is 4 years and an energetic kid for her age. Her wild untamed hair was flying as she was running around the living room chasing her dad.</p><p> </p><p>As Hinata suddenly came to a stop, Koume crashed onto his legs and both of them fell on the floor, Koume on top of him, both of them a giggling mess. He lifted her so that she was standing and he kneeled down to her eye level, on his knees.</p><p> </p><p>Koume opened her tiny fist and revealed the colorful hair clips she had in them.</p><p> </p><p>“I want pony tail”</p><p> </p><p>“Alright” Hinata responded matching her enthusiasm and picked up a blue hair clip, the star symbol in it painfully familiar. He carefully patted down her hair smoothly with the discarded tiny comb lying away and bunched up her ginger hair, a very similar shade to his and made a tiny sprout right in the middle.</p><p> </p><p>“Not there” Koume huffed.</p><p> </p><p>“I want it in the side, like Mom’s” Hinata’s heart beat sped up as she said ‘Mom’ with a very casual expression. He never lied or hid anything about his past to his daughter or that Mom was gone and she would not comeback. Although people who told him that it would be better if he tells her this when she is a bit more older to understand it, Hinata thought the biggest disrespect he could do to Hitoka was not tell her own daughter about her. It just felt <em>wrong</em>.</p><p> </p><p>“Grandma was showing me old albums of Mom and she had her hair in the side pony” Koume beamed.</p><p> </p><p>“How did Mom look in that?” Hinata asked knowing the answer was obvious. Koume adored Hitoka, even though she hasn’t met her and she is aware that she will never meet her.</p><p> </p><p>“She looked so cute”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>It was Winter when Hinata met Kageyama.</p><p> </p><p>Kageyama was in trails for the selection for the Olympics that was to be held the next year as the team setter. He was a Japanese National who had moved to Argentina post his high school graduation and played for the team there. Hinata was familiar with Kageyama’s name even back from high school as a talented setter with immense potential, who was the same year as he was but never got the chance to face off against his school, after which he has heard about him and seen his plays but never met him.</p><p> </p><p>“You may know him, Kageyama Tobio, he played for the San Juan CA team but recently moved back to Japan. He currently isn’t in any teams, he came back two days ago but since he is very talented, he will be joining the Olympics tryout”</p><p> </p><p>Kageyama was a talented setter. There was no questioning that. After all he was selected by an International team, the Argentina’s team, no less, as a high school graduate. He was quiet on court and his plays were sharp and precise. His tosses were like child’s play to hit.</p><p> </p><p>Hinata felt a sense of familiarity every time he hits his ball, every time the ball he sets, his body automatically responded in its own way.</p><p> </p><p>Of course, he was a professional volleyball player on court; his muscle memory reacted that way. But the setter he was most accustomed to playing was Atsumu Miya with whom he was playing for more than half a decade. But the same sense of familiarity he was getting from Kageyama somehow surpassed that.</p><p> </p><p>And that’s exactly where the issue came in.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“Hinata, try hitting cross shot” their coach called out. “You’ve been hitting line shots the entire match”</p><p> </p><p>But he was unable to. From the moment the ball is in their court till the moment his hand is raised to hit the ball, the only thing he focuses every fiber of his body on hitting the cross shot but the moment his hand comes in contact with the ball, it becomes a line shot.</p><p> </p><p>Hinata swore under his breath while he caught Kageyama getting frustrated and taking no effort in hiding it in his face.</p><p> </p><p>The coach later shifted teams and Kageyama was paired with other players who hit his ball with ease and different shots on command. But what was frustrating was the fact that when he was paired with another setter, Hinata played with ease but was not the case when he was with Kageyama. He was a professional volleyball player who has been playing since he was 15. Yet his childish complaint was that he was ‘unable to hit it on his will’.</p><p> </p><p>Hinata initially thought it was because Kageyama was new, he was taking some time to get used to his play but the same thing happened the next day as well. His ball was familiar yet foreign. Easy yet difficult to bend it to his will. And this took a toll on both the players, mentally.</p><p> </p><p>“Hinata, tell me what’s wrong with my ball”</p><p> </p><p>“There’s nothing wrong with your ball”</p><p> </p><p>“Then why are you not hitting cross shots?” Kageyama asked bluntly that everyone was staring at him. He wasn’t exactly the outgoing personality. He spoke few words when it was absolutely necessary and all of them were related to volleyball. But when he said the statement in a slightly menacing tone, the others couldn’t help but give looks of astonishment.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know” Hinata replied honestly.</p><p> </p><p>“I will not toss to you unless you tell me what’s wrong”</p><p> </p><p>“I told you, nothing is wrong.”</p><p> </p><p>“Then why aren’t you hitting it?” The coach interrupted their conversation before it could escalate.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>It has been two weeks and there seems to be no improvement in both of them. Hinata was not paired with Kageyama after that but he couldn’t help but always catch Kageyama playing. He set the ball effortlessy. Every move was that of a World class player that he often gets dumbfounded by just how powerful yet smooth his plays are.</p><p> </p><p>And not to mention his serves which is a league on its own. After all, Kageyama did score 5 service aces against France during a World cup and he was famously known for that in the International circle. His serves were powerful yet with scary level of accuracy that rivalled Atsumu and you would mistake him for an outside hitter and not a setter when he hits balls, not as a setter. He was the kind of multi-talented player a team would kill to have.</p><p> </p><p>“Daddy, watchu doing” Koume wrapped her arms around Hinata’s broad shoulders from his back, who had his headphones connected to the tablet he was holding in his hands, watching Kageyama’s matches starting from high school.</p><p> </p><p>Hinata paused the video he was watching and brought Koume to the front and seated her on his lap and adjusted the tablet so that it she was able to look at it as well.</p><p> </p><p>“I was watching a match. Do you wanna watch something else?”</p><p> </p><p>“I wanna watch match”</p><p> </p><p>“But you said they are boring” Hinata did try to get her to liking volleyball. Although she doesn’t understand the rules or positions really well, she always enjoyed playing with him and watching him. However she gets completely invested if the match consisted of her dad or her Uncle Bokuto or any of the players she was familiar with. She would enjoy it even further when the crowd would cheer when a team scored. It makes her the happiest when her Dad stands on the court and scores, the crowd cheering. However, if it did not consist of her Dad, she quickly looses interest.</p><p> </p><p>“This isn’t daddy’s match”</p><p> </p><p>“’S okay” she gave him a toothy grin “I wanna spend time with you” she said and removed the wire that was connecting the headphone to the tab and removed the headphone from his ears and adjusted herself in a much more comfortable position in his lap.</p><p> </p><p>That was when he realized that he hadn’t spent much time her the past two weeks. He was so preoccupied with his thoughts and extra hours of practice that he didn’t get to hang out with her even during weekends, when she is away from kindergarten and she spends the most time with him.</p><p> </p><p>She probably missed him and wanted to spend time with him and she was willing to do something which she finds boring for that. And this realization broke his heart a little.</p><p> </p><p>He held her in his arms from her back, slightly tightening his embrace but not too tight that it would be suffocating for her tiny body. He clicked the play button and focused his attention onto the match.</p><p> </p><p>“Who’s that?” Koume asked pointing at Kageyama. It was a compilation of his best shots from high school so he was the only one in the video.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s Kageyama, he joined my team recently” Koume made a small ‘oo’ with her mouth and continued watching. Hinata clicked the next video titled <em>‘Tobio Kageyama’s 5 service aces/ARGvsFRN’. </em>He had already watched this video prior to even meeting Kageyama and is a big fan of it and has seen it at least 5 times this past week but he wanted to show Koume something she would understand easily.</p><p> </p><p>“Want to see something cool?” he asked and she nodded her head and hummed excited. Koume loves when crowds cheer for him and his team members. With the cheers coming in for him, maybe she would know about how service aces work as well.</p><p> </p><p>“He looks scary” she notes when they show him making his way to the edge of the court and twirling the ball in his hand. <em>“That’s just how he usually is”</em> Hinata wants to add on but he doesn’t say anything.</p><p> </p><p>When the ball hits the ground and the crowd erupts in cheers, he catches her eyes widen and a smile on her face. The second service ace and the second time the crowd cheers, Koume herself cheers along with them. He notices his daughter brace herself as she readies for the third ball and when it hits the ground, she seems even more excited.</p><p> </p><p>“He’s so cool” she coos. With his fourth service ace, Kageyama has Koume wrapped in his finger.</p><p> </p><p>“He did it again and again, daddy” she says. Hinata paused the video while Kageyama stood at the court twirling the ball in his hand and getting ready for the final serve and the match point.</p><p> </p><p>“Daddy, I wanna see” she argues with a pout on her face.</p><p> </p><p>“Why, do you like him?”</p><p> </p><p>“Hm” she answers confidently.</p><p> </p><p>“What? Why?”</p><p> </p><p>“He’s so cool; people cheer very loudly when he serves. Daddy, they don’t even touch his ball. It doesn’t take too much time for him to score. You take a long time to score a point, Daddy” she says innocently but Hinata can’t help but feel betrayed.</p><p> </p><p>“Daddy will do the same thing in the next match.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay” she said and without even waiting further, she clicked the play button. And as the final serve was done and the entire team is cheering and lifting him off the floor and the crowd is going crazy, Koume stares at awe once she is done cheering for him.</p><p> </p><p>Oh well, Hinata has one more reason why he has to hate that jerk.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>It was Winter when Hinata Koume met Kageyama.</p><p> </p><p>The kindergarten was locked due to Christmas and the following New Year’s. Daichi and Sugawara, who were Hinata’s neighbors and often used to babysit her are out on a vacation.</p><p> </p><p>The Tanakas, another couple in the neighbourhood who were babysitters for Koume, which consisted of Tanaka Ryunosuke and his wife Tanaka Kiyoko were supposed to have a family dinner at Tanaka’s family back in Miyagi and would be leaving as well. He already feels bad leaving the Tanaka’s and Daichi and Sugawara to babysit Koume often but now they weren’t available at all.</p><p> </p><p>He contacted Yachi Madoka but her unpredictable schedule was troublesome and she would find it difficult babysitting her granddaughter. He remembers Hitoka telling him that she was often alone at night growing up because her Mom left at night for meetings.</p><p> </p><p>When Hinata was contemplating on what to do, Bokuto offered a solution.</p><p> </p><p>“Bring Koume-chan to the practice” Hinata knew the reason he wanted him to bring her was so that he could spend more time with her.</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t keep her here from morning till evening without her getting bored.”</p><p> </p><p>“She’ll be fine. Besides, you’re here, I’m here, and only few of us are going to be here. It’s an unofficial practice. I don’t think anyone would be too uptight with you bringing her. She’s familiar with us and maybe if you’re still worried, Keiji is free at home reading stuff. I’ll bring him to babysit Koume-chan and he can read his books here.”</p><p> </p><p>“Or I can just drop her off at your home and Akaashi-san can babysit her”</p><p> </p><p>“Hinata” Bokuto pouted. Yes, he most definitely wants Koume here so that he can spend time with her.</p><p> </p><p>“Alright, I’ll bring her tomorrow and see how it works.”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The unofficial practice doesn’t come under the schedule. The 10 days are allotted as vacation for the team members for Christmas and New Year and the people remaining are just there for improving their skills that have no plans.</p><p> </p><p>Hinata takes the vacation every year. He hates winter. He despises the snow laden streets and the chilly air and the constant state of freeze the city is under.</p><p> </p><p>It was because of <em>her</em>. All of the fondest memories of spending time with her were associated with this same very snow and the chillness in the air. The same snow that fell from the sky under which they got married, was the same snow that was responsible for the car skidding on the wet road that day and swerving into the wrong lane. The fateful day where she wanted to surprise him by coming to the Airport, the same day-</p><p> </p><p>“Koume-chan” Bokuto lifted her effortlessly and spun her around. Koume just giggled at him, her giggles getting louder each second.</p><p> </p><p>“Uncle Bo” she exclaimed when he had stopped spinning. Koume loved hanging out with Bokuto and their personalities synced up too well and it was Akaashi was the one who suggested that Koume spend a lesser time with Bokuto because she was getting more rowdy hanging around with him and he was <em>not</em> a good influence.</p><p> </p><p>“Bo uncle number two” she beamed at Akaashi. Akaashi had a soft spot for her the same way he did for her. Although she loves her Bokuto uncle so much, she wouldn’t allow even Bokuto to call Akaashi as ‘boring’ and would scold him if he did so.</p><p> </p><p>And that’s because Akaashi or as Koume liked to call him ‘Bo-uncle number two’ would allow her to play with his hair and read her stories. And Akaashi never corrected her every time she called him 'Bo-uncle number two' despite them being not married.</p><p> </p><p>“Koume-chan, let’s sit there,and watch your dad and uncle play, shall we?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yaay” she responded enthusiastically.</p><p> </p><p>“Although he doesn't look like that, Keiji is really good with kids.” Bokuto mumbled as if he was talking to himself.</p><p> </p><p>Atsumu entered at that time, along with Kageyama and the duo joined the others who were doing their warm ups.</p><p> </p><p>“Yo, Hinata, you brought your daughter here, huh” Kageyama turned his head the direction where Atsumu turned, not even being subtle about it. “<em>Daughter</em>” he said to himself silently but fell into Hinata's ears.</p><p> </p><p>“What Kageyama, I don’t look like a dad huh?” Hinata asked mockingly.</p><p> </p><p>“You don’t look like the responsible type” Kageyama said dismissively.</p><p> </p><p>“Well I did raise her for four years as a single parent and I think I raised her pretty responsibly”</p><p> </p><p>Four years? But she looks like she is four years old? Did he raise her as a single parent since she was born?</p><p> </p><p>“Kageyama-kun?” the little girl screamed, her orange curls bouncing as she ran towards them at full speed with Akaashi running behind trying to catch her. By the time however, she was already in front of Kageyama.</p><p> </p><p><em>Oh great, now I have to deal with mini-Hinata as well </em>he thought to himself.</p><p> </p><p>“Kageyama-kun” she said innocently, contrary to her loud scream just moments ago.</p><p> </p><p>“Koume, what did I tell you before coming here and why are you calling him Kageyama-kun? He’s older than you”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s okay, I don’t care about honorifics. You can call me anything” he answered before Hinata could go further. As a celebrity like status and many fan meetings post match and younger fans meeting him, Kageyama was taught how to interact with younger fans, but he still didn’t do a good job.</p><p> </p><p>He did feel kind of petty happiness that Hinata’s daughter knew his name. He bent down on one knee in front of her. She was beaming brightly as he got closer.</p><p> </p><p>“Kageyama-kun, you are so cool” she beamed at him. He caught Hinata’s face in the background shrivelling up at that statement.</p><p> </p><p>“Daddy is also cool” she defended him, although she didn’t see the look on his face. “Daddy is the coolest but I saw you play in that one match and you scored one point and next and next and next and next. That was so cool” she held up a finger every time she counted a point and she was holding up five fingers in the air.</p><p> </p><p>“She is talking about the five service ace against France match” Ushijima said. “I think” he added as an afterthought.</p><p> </p><p>“France, France match” she chimed in. Hinata didn’t want to think about it, but can’t help but notice how his daughter was surrounded by men who were all 6 foot plus but wasn’t scared of them at all, <em>unlike her mother</em>.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, you saw that” Kageyama had to admit that wasn’t something he was expecting her to say.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I like it so much I ask Daddy to play the video for me everyday.”</p><p> </p><p>“Koume” he called out embarrassed that her daughter was admitting it to him.</p><p> </p><p>“I like you, Kageyama-kun” she smiled widely at her, a spitting image of her annoying dad but Kageyama couldn’t bring himself to hate it.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll show you amazing play like that today”</p><p> </p><p>“Really?”</p><p> </p><p>“Really”</p><p> </p><p>“Koume, Daddy will play really well today, cheer for me”</p><p> </p><p>“I will always cheer for you, Daddy” she said, her grin now focused on her father. Kageyama didn’t expect them to make a good duo but they seem to have a good relationship.</p><p> </p><p>“Cheer for Uncle Bo too” Bokuto chirped up.</p><p> </p><p>“Ye little kid, you never cheer for me” Atsumu piped up.</p><p> </p><p>“I will cheer for all of you. All of you play in my Daddy’s team. I will cheer for you too, Sakusa-san” she calls out specifically at him and Atsumu laughed as Sakusa tried to wave and say something back to her.</p><p> </p><p>“At least play well for your daughter, Hinata” Kageyama called out as they made their way to different sides of the net.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t worry; I won’t disappoint my daughter very easily.” He grinned at him.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re fired up than usual, Hinata”</p><p> </p><p>“I won’t let that dude steal the spotlight.” He said and caught the gaze of his daughter who was sipping a drink while swinging her legs. When she caught Hinata looking at her, she waved her hand smiling and he waved back equally enthusiastic.</p><p> </p><p>“Miya-san nice kill” he called out loudly to Atsumu who was up for the first serve.</p><p> </p><p> "That's right" he thought to himself "I'm never going to disappoint my daughter."</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“Kageyama-kun” Koume called out to Kageyama who was getting ready to leave the gymnasium, slinging his gym bag across his shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>“You played really well” she beamed with the same energy she had ever since the beginning. <em>‘Stamina really does run in his blood’ </em>he thought but refused to say it at the last moment, because he felt it wasn’t appropriate to tell it to a four year old.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh, thanks” he said. <em>“Remember to smile, Tobio-chan, smile” </em>Oikawa’s advice hit him out of nowhere.</p><p> </p><p>He tried smiling, key word <em>‘tried’.</em></p><p> </p><p>And Koume took three steps back as soon as she saw it and hit her father’s leg.</p><p> </p><p>“Kageyama-kun, I would appreciate it if you weren’t scaring my daughter” he said laying a hand on the top of her head and stroking her curls.</p><p> </p><p>“I wasn’t scaring her”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re smile is terrifying”</p><p> </p><p>“Daddy, that’s rude” Koume chided and he was actually taken aback.</p><p> </p><p>“Ehh…Did you just correct me?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes” she said with an air of confidence and turned back to Kageyama.</p><p> </p><p>“Kageyama-kun, before you hit the last shot,in the France match, you were doing <em>‘this’</em> to your ball, right” her tiny hands tried to mimic <em>‘this’</em> which was him twirling the ball before serving.</p><p> </p><p>“At that time you smiled, Kageyama-kun, that smile was nice.” Both the adults perked up at the observation. <em>Was his smile really nice at that time? Was he even smiling in the first place?</em></p><p> </p><p>“And the biiiig smile you had when your teammates lifted you, that was also very nice” she said and grinned at him. Kageyama was rendered speechless. He didn't know what else to say except a "Thank you" and Hinata was already asking her if she was done so that they can leave.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, I will see you tomorrow. Bye” she waved at him.</p><p> </p><p>Hinata helped her wearing her with the large coat and wrapped a scarf that was most definitely his, around her neck. A large part of it was however, hanging loose because she was already rounded up till her neck was puffy, the remaining part dragging in the ground. She took the hanging end and was trying to hit him as both of them laughed loudly.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>She is his daughter alright</em>” he thought to himself, after catching himself lingering a second longer than necessary and made his way back to the apartment.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“Kageyama-kun” Koume came back every day for next two weeks and she got more and more excited every passing day, if it were even possible and oddly enough he was more tolerating of her than her giant orange father.</p><p> </p><p>But something else he had noticed every time was the fact that Hinata’s face was twisted and had an almost weird vibe every time he entered the court in the morning, unlike his usual demeanor. And except to his daughter, he never really smiles at anyone, until around two sets. And that vibe stayed only when he enters, a kind of uneasy feeling, that was very <em>‘Not Hinata’.</em></p><p>
  
</p><p>One more thing he noticed was the fact that he also had that same weird vibe when he’s about to leave. He gets eerily quiet and shuffling footsteps in the changing room, as if he doesn’t want to leave.</p><p> </p><p>And yesterday, he caught him with an expression that he had never seen him with. He had seen Hinata happy, frustrated, playful and serious. But the face that Hinata made was something that pierced Kageyama, who was painfully aware of the expression that he wore.</p><p> </p><p>He was scared.</p><p> </p><p>And Kageyama couldn’t understand why. He knew without a doubt that he was scared. But for a grown man who grabbed the attention of the court, the ‘Little Giant’,and a father to top it all of, what was he scared of anyways?</p><p> </p><p>The next Olympic trial wasn’t for a month and it goes without saying that he was going to be selected as a regular player. <em>Unlike him</em>.</p><p> </p><p>And this lead to the worst possible misconception that Kageyama could come up with.</p><p> </p><p>If there is something troubling him every time he comes and leaves and only at those specific times, then that has something to do with him not playing well. The issue that was troubling him was the same reason he wasn't able to hit his shots.</p><p> </p><p>And he decided to confront Hinata on that, to improve their pairing, which they were unable to work on the first six days. It was one day before New Year’s Eve and all the remaining players who had been practicing during the vacation, have unanimously decided that they will take the next four days to celebrate the New Year. Today marked their last practice before the entire team meets in five days to resume their official practice.</p><p> </p><p>“Hinata” Kageyama called out when he was talking to Bokuto, who held Koume in his arms.</p><p> </p><p>“What?” he asked the displeasure evident both in his voice and face.</p><p> </p><p>“I need to talk to you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Alright”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll wait in the changing room”</p><p> </p><p>“Kageyama-kun” Koume called out as he was about to turn and leave.</p><p> </p><p>“Happy New Year” she cheered so loudly that her childish voice ringed across the empty gymnasium. Her voice carried along with it a feeling what Kageyama hadn’t been used to for a very long time.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Genuine affection</em>
</p><p> </p><p>And it made his heart warm, a sensation that was foreign yet welcome. An ache to hear her say it again that manifested as a dull pain in his chest, the overall feeling indescribable to him, that somehow felt relieving and free. </p><p> </p><p>“Ah, I won’t be able to meet you after this. But I will try to come, okay? Don’t forget me.”</p><p> </p><p>“I won’t forget you.” The response was just natural.</p><p> </p><p>“My name is Hinata Koume” she said although he was wary of that fact already.</p><p> </p><p>“Happy New Year to you too, Koume-chan” Kageyama told, his voice faltering towards the end of the sentence and he brought his hand to his face to hide the obvious embarrassment, as his teammates looked upon the interaction curiously.</p><p> </p><p>He was very bad at handling kids, and that was rough considering he had a lot of children as his fans. He would give them his autographs and that was pretty much it. They would talk his ear off in Spanish and he learnt basic phrases to talk to them.</p><p> </p><p>Koume was the child he spent the most of the time around, or rather, the child who hung around him a lot. And every time she called him out or cheered for him or defended him against her father or when she tried to argue with him because he called her father a ‘dumbass’ once, she always behaved as if she was familiar with him, with so much adoration in her voice, it was getting increasingly harder to deny her presence and the emptiness he felt when he couldn’t hear her cheers.</p><p> </p><p>He wanted to hear her cheer for him, hear her say “Kageyama-kun, your play is awesome” at the end of every match and the look of mock hurt Hinata would have when she did that, only for her to embrace her Dad tightly and wipe off his sweat using the towel from his forehead.</p><p> </p><p>And he had to face it that this might be the last time he would be seeing her. And hence, he couldn’t help but wish her and hope that she genuinely has a good year ahead.</p><p> </p><p>The fact that he sub-consciously wished her a <em>goodbye</em> disguised as a <em>New Year’s wish</em> didn’t hit him until he was had changed completely and sat on the chair waiting for Hinata to come.</p><p> </p><p>Hinata came to the waiting room, his face unnaturally tense and contorted. Was he…angry?</p><p> </p><p>“Kageyama-kun, if you are free after this, why don’t we talk over some drinks” he called out in a levelled tone that sounded much like a statement more than a suggestion.</p><p> </p><p>“Koume?” he bothered not even asking the entire question. The one word was enough to convey what he had meant to say.</p><p> </p><p>“Bokuto-san is taking her to her Grandma’s home so we’ll be fine.”</p><p> </p><p>He knew dissecting that sentence would reveal the complicated relationship of his personal life that Kageyama believed its best left untouched. He simply nodded and waited for Hinata to get ready.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>It was Winter when Hinata and Kageyama opened their hearts to each other.</p><p> </p><p>They decided to go to a quiet restaurant not too far away from their gymnasium. The entire time they walked, neither said a word to another. For a person that wouldn’t shut up at all, Hinata was quiet and his face was twisted the entire time.</p><p> </p><p>When it started snowing a little before they could arrive, he looked even more annoyed than he was a second ago. ‘<em>It’s just the snow, is that such a big deal?</em>’ Kageyama thought to himself ‘<em>What is wrong with him?</em>’</p><p> </p><p> Before they could order food for each other, Hinata chugged an entire large glass of beer, much to the surprise of Kageyama.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>So much for being a responsible father</em>
</p><p> </p><p>The tip of his ears and his cheeks flushed as he ordered another glass and looked questioningly at Kageyama’s untouched first glass while he was eating the meat in the plate.</p><p> </p><p>“What did you want to talk about, Kageyama-kun?”</p><p> </p><p>Oh right, he was the one who wanted to talk to him about the game.</p><p> </p><p>“I wanted to talk about how we are playing?”</p><p> </p><p>“Is something wrong with how I am playing? Yes. I’m a professional volleyball player and I can’t even hit your serves according to my command. And your serves are scarily accurate.”</p><p> </p><p>“But why can’t you hit it?”</p><p> </p><p>“As I told you, Kageyama-kun, I have no freaking clue” he kind of yelled the last part but thankfully, it was a worn down restaurant and had very few people who minded their own business after giving a brief look at him. Maybe he shouldn’t let Hinata drink too much, he is a professional star player and had a reputation to uphold.</p><p> </p><p>He crossed his arms on the table and laid his head on the arms and stayed like that for a minute until the next glass of beer arrived, the food on his plate gone cold long ago.</p><p> </p><p>As the next glass of beer came, he woke up but Kageyama snatched the glass before he could get into a much worse shape, he doesn’t seem to have a high tolerance and his personality seemed too tense and angry.</p><p> </p><p>“I won’t give this to you unless you tell me like an adult what is wrong with you and why can’t you hit my toss?”</p><p> </p><p>“Kageyama, can’t you understand? Why do you keep asking me the same question I don’t have the answer for?”</p><p> </p><p>“Because it’s our literal career” it was his turn to scream at him.</p><p> </p><p>“Do you understand what you’re saying? The next month we will have our evaluation and the finalization of the Olympic team. It is going to hurt not only me but your chance to get selected. Do you think the head coach is going to sit there and select an opposite hitter who can’t hit the toss of the setter at the starting rotation? You were at the starting rotation during the World Cup, weren’t you? You are predicted to be in the starting lineup for the Olympics as well.”</p><p> </p><p>“And why are you so concerned about me, Kageyama-kun?”</p><p> </p><p>“Because it affects me too,dumbass. I came here from Argentina for the Olympics and then one of their players isn’t syncing with my play. Who do you think would get the first preference huh?”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s you” Hinata said without missing a beat that it caught Kageyama off-guard.</p><p> </p><p>“Kageyama-kun, do you know why I wasn’t selected as a regular for the last Olympics and the World Cup the same year?” Hinata asked snatching the glass from his hand and chugging down the beer and looked at him straight in the eyes, with a very serious expression.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know” Kageyama answered honestly, wanting to move on from the topic of the last Olympics that he has very unpleasant memories associated with which he would rather not think about and complicate his already messed up feelings.</p><p> </p><p>“You didn’t even Google search me, did you? That’s literally one thing that’s always mentioned about me, even in unrelated articles. Go ahead. Do it.” Well he did search him but only for his plays, he didn’t know what he was talking about that he needed to give special attention to.</p><p> </p><p>“Google ‘Hinata Shoyo’s personal life” Kageyama stiffened up midway through opening Google. <em>‘Is that really okay?’</em>  He questioned himself when the person in question was sitting right in front of him.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t look at me with that expression. I was the one who asked you to look at it, didn’t I?”</p><p> </p><p>When he typed Hinata Shoyo and a space, the first thing that showed up in the suggestion pop up box below was ‘Personal life’ and he clicked it reluctantly.</p><p> </p><p>He clicked the first article titled <em>“Hinata Shoyo and his shockingly tragic past. Read more about the MSBY Black Jackal’s Opposite Hitter and his life”</em></p><p> </p><p>Kageyama looked at Hinata and brought his eyes down, the title itself wanting him to put the phone down and leave the room at that instant.</p><p> </p><p>“Read it.”</p><p> </p><p>“No.” Kageyama said firmly. Hinata rose from his seat and grabbed the phone from his grip and started reading it loud enough for him to hear. It wasn’t even like he was reading his own life’s story as he kept reading it in a monotonous voice.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Hinata Shoyo has won the hearts of fans across Japan with his amazing playing style during the V-League matches and the World Cup. It is no exaggeration when his fans claim that he is one of the best-rounded players in the entire world currently, who shines in all the positions he plays, from powerful hits to clean receive to his master decoy.</em>
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  <em>But behind his bright smile, he harbors a deep sadness that isn’t evident when you look at the cheerful player who is always shining on and off court.</em>
</p><p>
  
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  <em>Hinata was 23 years when he had married his girlfriend of two years, Hitoka Yachi, who was the step sister of fellow MSBY team member, Bokuto Koutarou. That was the same year the team won the V-League Division 1 match.</em>
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  <em>The next year, Bokuto had accidentally revealed during a live on his Instagram that Hinata was expecting a child with his new wife.</em>
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  <em>However tragedy befell the newlyweds who had only stayed married for a year and few months. When Hinata had come back from Brazil from his preparatory session for the Olympics, he was met with the news that his wife was in an accident and they couldn’t save her but they saved their child.</em>
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  <em>Hinata Shoyo was only 24 years old when he had lost his wife and was a single father to Hinata Koume, his daughter.</em>
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  <em>He had never hid his daughter, however, who often makes appearances in social media accounts of both his and his fellow teammates who seem to adore the little child.</em>
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  <em>Inside sources suggest that this was the reason that Hinata voluntarily withdrew from the Olympics try out that year. There have also been rumors of his decline in playing and irregular practices and hence was made as a substitute player for the team instead of a regular for the World Cup that was held on the same year.</em>
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  <em>But he proved that he was more powerful than ever when he came back the next-</em>
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</p><p>“I think that’s enough” he stopped himself, calling out for another drink.</p><p> </p><p>“Kageyama-kun, I’m actually offended that you didn’t know about this before. It was an open secret everyone knew”</p><p> </p><p>“But why-”</p><p> </p><p>“Why am I saying this to you? Honestly, I don’t know. Everyone believed that I was so traumatized that I didn’t want to play and quit practicing. But you know, that was not what happened.”</p><p> </p><p>For the first time in the night, he actually sipped his drink instead of chugging the entire glass down.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not the person to quit playing because I was sad. In fact, I hate to admit that I started playing more to keep my mind off of it. Being in home reminded me of her and I didn’t know how to handle an infant all alone. I left her to Madoka-san and kept playing over and over again, not once noticing the time of the day or the weeks passing by.</p><p> </p><p>But you know why I withdrew from the qualifiers, because this same thing happened four years ago. My body and mind wouldn’t sync up when I wanted them to. I would think ‘Okay now I’m going to hit it like this’ but when my hand comes in contact with the ball, it doesn’t go the way I wanted it to.</p><p> </p><p>Do you know how incredibly frustrating it was? Every single freaking time I hit the ball, it didn’t go the way I wanted it to. It still didn’t deter me. I kept jumping over and over and over again, until I was exhausted and collapsed twice over the same week.</p><p> </p><p>The coach was the one who told me that I must learn to correct it before the Olympics tryouts or else I would be dropped but I quit before they could drop me. I was ashamed of myself. Volleyball was the only thing I knew and the frustration that I felt at that time felt suffocating.</p><p> </p><p>Everything was suffocating. Going back home, going to practice, looking at Koume, everything, everything was suffocating. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Every morning I woke up, I didn’t know what I was going to do next. I felt like I had no purpose.</p><p> </p><p>And you know why I don’t like playing with you, Kageyama. Because every time I can’t hit your ball, I feel like I can’t breathe. I feel invisible hands choking me harder and harder every ball I miss. I had terrible nightmares about that time over and over again. Every day since I missed your ball the first time, I have been afraid to even open my eyes. The fear that I felt four years ago, I feel that fear again.</p><p> </p><p>You know what, Kageyama? Some of the most precious memories I have are from the Winter season. The snow that’s falling from the sky holds so many of my life’s happiest moments. But this same snow was the reason for that fateful day.</p><p> </p><p>And I hate it. Every time I look at the white snow, it makes my heart ache, a sharp throbbing pain. Every time I look at the pale white snow reminds me of her lifeless body and her pale, ashen face. The cold winter reminds me of the time I would sit in the same park that I got married and cried till there were no more tears and my throat was raw.</p><p> </p><p>Every time I walked through the snowy streets with Koume, I can’t help but fear that she too, would be taken away from me within the blink of the eye by this Winter and I would be left with nothing.</p><p> </p><p>You are like that Winter to me, Kageyama.”</p><p> </p><p>A heavy silence fell upon them. Hinata gulped down the entire glass, his head in his hands, completely covering his face, but not completely that let Kageyama catch a glimpse of the tears flowing down his reddened cheeks onto the table.</p><p> </p><p>Kageyama was bad with people. He knew about it. He didn’t have a person whom he had to console before and was thus very bad at it. Right now, he didn’t know what to say and decided the best course of action was to stay silent.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know whether I would get selected for the team or not because you are an amazing player and there is no need for a hitter who can’t hit the setter’s ball. That doesn’t mean that I give up. I always try to surpass my own limit every match. I will do the same during the selections as well.”</p><p> </p><p>“This is probably the first and the last time I even have a shot at the Olympics and I will not let you ruin it.” Kageyama blurted out. Even though he wanted to feel bad for him and wanted to understand his pain and sympathize, his stubbornness of not wanting to confront the issue and solve it was getting on his nerves.</p><p> </p><p>Kageyama took a big gulp of his own beer that was relatively untouched the whole time. He could feel his mind getting fuzzy and difficult to co-ordinate his thoughts and his words.</p><p> </p><p>He was known as a lightweight by his old teammates and often refrained from drinking when his entire team would get black out drunk. Since this was the first time he was out drinking since he came back to Japan, he should have thought more about it instead of drinking with his teammate, who was also drunk.</p><p> </p><p>“I have an injury” Kageyama began “That was the reason I went to Argentina after Oikawa-san called me. People here knew of it and didn’t want me.</p><p> </p><p>I was always careful with my body but I pushed myself more than my body was capable of. I didn’t even know about it until my legs gave out the day I stood for the world cup tryouts.</p><p> </p><p>I still made it to the World cup team the next year but I was scared. I want to keep playing and every time I stood on the court, I took it as a blessing.</p><p> </p><p>The last time the Olympics came, I was 24. I had the ticket to Japan in my hand for the try outs but I did not come because I was afraid if my injury gets worse and the entire world knew about it, that’s the last court I will stand in. I would be forced to retire.</p><p> </p><p>The injury has gotten worse, it keeps getting worse. This might as well be the last time I’m going to play a big match. Oikawa-san told me to just go for it.” The entire time, Kageyama’s voice was melancholic. As if he was reciting a distant memory. It was weird looking at this side of him for Hinata who had always seen him being grumpy. He was no longer crying but looking at his face with an intense expression.</p><p> </p><p>“And I will not allow you to ruin my last chance of the Olympics you dumbass.” Hinata was startled when Kageyama suddenly yelled.</p><p> </p><p>“I will not allow you to miss my toss. I will get selected in the team and so will you. I will not be the reason why you don’t get selected and I will not allow you to be the reason I won’t get selected.” Hinata smiled at him when he finished his rant. Although he didn’t speak as much as Hinata did, this is the longest the latter heard the former speak.</p><p> </p><p>“And I will not allow you to beat me.”</p><p> </p><p>“We will be in the same team if we get selected, dumbass Hinata.”</p><p> </p><p>“Kageyama-kun, I really wanted to encourage you drinking more because you speak so freely but you have a foul mouth.”</p><p> </p><p>“As if you’re any better. You’re face is the same color of your hair I can’t even distinguish them.”</p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>The day of the Olympics</p><p>4 hours before the match starts</p><p> </p><p>The excitement was obvious however the tension amongst them was also heavily present. Everyone was dealing with it in different ways.</p><p> </p><p>There was still time till the practice match started and the team was hanging out in the Olympic village. Akaashi was rubbing the back of Bokuto who was biting his nails. Atsumu was messing with Sakusa who had a very disgusted look on his face. Aran and Yaku are, judging by their looks, gossiping and the others were nowhere to be seen.</p><p> </p><p>Kageyama came out of his room and looked at the crowd. “Tobio-kun” Atsumu called out “Ye free right now?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah”</p><p> </p><p>“Omi omi, now that he is here, tell me. Who is the better setter, me or Kageyama?”</p><p> </p><p>“Kageyama” Sakusa answered without missing a beat.</p><p> </p><p>“What else were you expecting asking a dumb question like that?” Yaku asked still smiling at him. Kageyama stared at them, being caught in this weird predicament.</p><p> </p><p>“Tobio-kun, this will be the last time Omi-kun will say this. The next time I ask this question, I will make him say my name.”</p><p> </p><p>Kageyama smiled at Atsumu. “Let’s see”</p><p> </p><p>“Kaaageeyamaa kuun” a voice called behind him, a flurry of orange curls bouncing in the air before a tiny figure latched herself onto Kageyama’s leg.</p><p> </p><p>“Koume” he looked at her and picked her up in his arms like it was a second nature.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re ready” she beamed at him.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, I am.”</p><p> </p><p>“Will you play with my daddy today?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes”</p><p> </p><p>“Will you do the ‘twisty and whoosh and you score a point’ thingy”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes” he answered all her questions in a matter-of-fact tone.</p><p> </p><p>“Jeez, loosen up a little, will you?” Hinata appeared behind him, wearing his jersey.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m loosened up”</p><p> </p><p>Koume pressed her tiny fists on Kageyama’s shoulders pressing it down.</p><p> </p><p>“Daddy said relax.” Kageyama smiled involuntarily at that and Koume smiled ten times wider.</p><p> </p><p>“Kageyama-kun smiled” she said her voice filled with childish wonder.</p><p> </p><p>“And surprisingly, it’s not terrifying”</p><p> </p><p>“Uncle Miya, don’t say that.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why is that he is not called an Uncle while you call everyone uncle, young lady?”</p><p> </p><p>“Hmmm” Koume looked deep in thought, still in Kageyama’s arms.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know” she said sticking out her tongue and smiled at him.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, you’re just like you’re dad, aintcha? Both of you are whipped for Tobio-kun.”</p><p> </p><p>Kageyama’s eyes narrowed not fully understanding how he was to classify the word ‘whipped’. Love? Affection? And how does it apply in this situation?</p><p> </p><p>“Whipped?” Koume parroted not knowing what it meant at all.</p><p> </p><p>“Atsumu-san” Hinata called out flustered “You’re ruining Koume’s innocence.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh really? Then why don’t you deny it Shoyo?”</p><p> </p><p>“Ah, um”</p><p> </p><p>The Coach came before they could continue and called the team to have some light food before they could head down to practice.</p><p> </p><p>“Just so you know, I’m not letting this topic go, Shoyo” Atsumu whispered in his ears before wrapping one hand around Sakusa’s shoulder only for it to get it violently shoved away.</p><p> </p><p>Hinata didn’t meet Kageyama’s eyes when he took Koume from his arms and he said a silent prayer to himself, hoping he wouldn’t prod further, which thankfully, he didn’t.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>10 minutes before practice</p><p> </p><p>“Where is Kageyama?” the coach called out. Everyone looked at each other but no one knew where he was. The coach was getting annoyed by the delay.</p><p> </p><p>“Find him and come to the practice” he called out and left the room. Hinata felt uneasy but he didn’t know how to describe it. Houshimi tried calling his phone but he didn’t pick up.</p><p> </p><p>“Kageyama went to the restroom along with me and said he’ll be back. He should be nearby.” Ushijima said confidently “He is not the type of person who would run away because of nerves.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well that is true.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll go and search.” Hinata said.</p><p> </p><p>“And to lose you too? The coach is already pissed.” Atsumu piped up.</p><p> </p><p>“You guys head to the court, if we don’t come back by ten minutes, start the practice. I can assure you, we will be back by then.” Hinata reassured firmly.</p><p> </p><p>“You be back by 10, got that?” Atsumu said, this time, his voice having a meaner and threatening tone to it.</p><p> </p><p>Hinata clicked his tongue in annoyance. He isn’t the type to skip practice or even be late. He’s always one of the earliest people to attend the practice, no matter the circumstance.</p><p> </p><p>As he made his way out and looked around, he came in contact with Akaashi buying some snacks along with Koume in his arms.</p><p> </p><p>“Daddy” she screamed at the sight of him</p><p> </p><p>“Have you seen Kageyama?” he asked Akaashi frantically.</p><p> </p><p>“No, is he missing?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah”</p><p> </p><p>“Kageyama-kun gets lost easily. He told me.” Koume tried contributing to the conversation, playing with her fingers thoughtfully.</p><p> </p><p>“And he did” Hinata said annoyed still looking around. “I will go search for him.”</p><p> </p><p>“Play well, Daddy” she called out despite saying this for the hundredth time since they had gotten on the flight. He simply smiled at her and continued looking around. People gave him weird looks because of him wearing the Olympic jersey but he paid no mind and continued wandering off.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly he heard a loud shriek from a child, which was unmistakably, his daughter’s voice and his heart dropped to his stomach. His head turned around wildly, searching in the direction of her voice.</p><p> </p><p>“Kageyama-kun” she screamed, her voice cutting through the crowd. Hinata raced towards the voice at the same time he caught a glimpse of the orange curls racing towards the right.</p><p> </p><p>“Koume” he called out and ran behind her as Akaashi was running behind her as well, both of them struggling to keep their eyes on her.</p><p> </p><p>Hinata halted when he saw Kageyama holding Koume in his arms, his entire face pale and beads of sweat on his forehead. The look of it reminded him of the painful memory he tried to keep buried, the pale face he had tried to forget. For a moment, he forgot how to breathe.</p><p> </p><p>Akaashi reached shortly and called out Koume for creating a fuss and running away from his arms and almost getting lost in the crowd.</p><p> </p><p>Hinata laid a hand on Akaashi’s shoulder, getting his attention to Kageyama’s face. His face was expressionless and empty. His eyes were unfocused and looking at somewhere distant yet shielded Koume who was gripping his jersey tightly in her fists and looked at his face, worried.</p><p> </p><p>“Kageyama-kun” she called his name, one palm touching his face gently. His eyes briefly looked at her. Koume then raised her palm and wiped a thin layer of sweat from his forehead.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you having a fever?” she asked timidly. He shook his head indicating a ‘no’.</p><p> </p><p>“Were you scared because you got lost?” she asked again. This time he remained silent, his eyes trained downwards.</p><p> </p><p>“What were you thinking, Kageyama? The entire team was worried searching for you. We have a practice in few minutes for our Olympics match if you don’t remember” Hinata yelled at him.</p><p> </p><p>“What if this is my last match? Will this be the last time I stand on court?” he asked. For a moment, the dull ache in Hinata’s chest returned.</p><p> </p><p>“Is that what’s important right now. What you need to do is play every match like it’s your last, like every point is your set point. That’s the way you can enjoy the feeling of staying in the court. Even if this is your last match, shouldn’t you be the strongest amongst us all?”</p><p> </p><p>“I wasn’t trying to run away.” He stated “I got lost but I didn’t feel like finding my way back. Olympic is the highest place I could go. There is no place for me to go further. I don’t have anywhere once this match is over.”</p><p> </p><p>Anger bubbled within Hinata but another strange feeling took over him. A chill ran through his spine and he felt the merciless fingers tightening around his neck once again. His breathing hitched and he could feel himself taking deep breaths and felt coldness washing over the entire body.</p><p> </p><p><em>Not now. Not now. Not when I have a match. </em>He told himself. The words which he wanted to say to Kageyama were struck in his throat. He wanted to tell Kageyama that it wasn’t the time and that he could play more and more matches and stand on more and more courts and that he has a long way to go.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t say that, not when we were finally able to do our quick attack. We will play more and more matches. Show our quick to the world. We will develop and upgrade our own moves that every time we stand on the court, we will make the crowd go speechless”</p><p> </p><p><em>I want to continue. I want to say more. But why can’t I? My throat is parched. My head hurts. I want to open my mouth</em>. Hinata’s voice kept running around but he was not able to formulate a sentence. His body felt like it was slowly coming to a stop and refused to listen to his mind.</p><p> </p><p>“Kageyama-kun” Koume called his name, clearly, with love and affection, the same way she calls her father with.</p><p> </p><p>“I want to cheer for you. I want everyone to cheer for you when you play well. I want to see you give the ball to daddy and daddy will hit it <em>swish </em>and everyone will cheer. That is the best out of everything, you know? I want to see that.” Kageyama raised his eyebrows in a questioning way, his eyes slightly widening at her words.</p><p> </p><p>“Please don’t stop playing. I want to see you play with Daddy more and more.” Her voice had an edge of desperation to it. Her tiny fists crumpled his jersey as she looked into his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you going to play?”</p><p> </p><p>His face had conflicting emotions across them. Hinata was sure that he wasn’t going to let him go anywhere and that he was going to drag him back no matter the circumstances but he allowed the interaction to go a little longer to see whether he would willingly change his mind. And Koume seemed to be having that effect on him.</p><p> </p><p>His face finally became clearer than it was before and his features smoothened. “Hmm” he hummed in agreement. Her face immediately split open into a wide grin and she placed a tiny kiss on his cheek, which took Kageyama by absolute shock which was evident in his face.</p><p> </p><p>“Goodluck kiss. I gave one for Daddy as well. This is for you” she beamed and wiggled herself from his arms and went towards Akaashi who had a straight face the entire time. When he saw her, he gave her a stern look and she immediately hugged his leg knowing that unlike other times she ran away, she had actually troubled him this time.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry, Bo-uncle two. I won’t run away like that again.” She said sticking out her tongue and smiling. He lifted her in his arms and held her closely “Don’t do that again.”</p><p> </p><p>“I won’t.”</p><p> </p><p>Hinata stood there not knowing what to do. He wanted to go and hug Koume and tell her not to do something like that again and how scared he was.</p><p> </p><p>And the other part of him wanted to scream at Kageyama for disappearing during a crucial time.</p><p> </p><p>“I have a reason why I have to keep playing. I will play, for her.”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s my line.”Hinata countered, not having the energy to even begin arguing, otherwise they would be there the whole day. He felt his own body relaxing and a calmness washing over his body as he saw the tension leaving Kageyama’s body replaced by confidence as he straightened his posture.</p><p> </p><p>“You better not disappoint my daughter.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m won't.” He said and smirked at him. Hinata ran up quickly and placed a tiny kiss on top of her head “I will talk to you later about what just happened now.”</p><p> </p><p>Akaashi and Koume apologized at the same time. “Akaashi-san, please take good care of her. She can be a bit troublesome at times.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry Hinata-kun. I’ll make sure she would never leave my side.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hey Tangerine dumbass, wanna race me to the court?” Kageyama called out, still smirking, his entire aura brimming with renewed confidence and excitement.</p><p> </p><p>“You bet I am.”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>It was Winter when Hinata and Kageyama started going out. It was a mistake though. And Koume was behind it.</p><p> </p><p>Koume was sitting in the backyard, her legs swinging back and forth in the porch. The weather seemed to get gradually chilly so Hinata was trying to bring her in but she loved the snow.</p><p> </p><p>He still had bad memories associated with snow that he would rather not bring up but realized that he can’t be forever scared of it and try to run away and confront it.</p><p> </p><p>He had realized years later that finding a solution, reaching a peace of mind was very easy once he approaches his problem head on. The confrontation is hard and painful but the ease of burden and the comfort that it provides makes it seem as if the burden wasn’t heavy as he had perceived it to be.</p><p> </p><p>He sighed and brought out his scarf and wrapped it around her and joined her in the porch. She smiled at him and got closer, elated at the fact that he joined her, despite refusing her adamantly from going anywhere near the snow up until some time ago.</p><p> </p><p>“Daddy, you didn’t like the snow but now you’re here.” She giggled.</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t be scared forever right?”</p><p> </p><p>“Hmm” she hummed and played with the tip of the scarf.</p><p> </p><p>“Daddy, can a child have two daddies?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, why not” he giggled nervously. It was a perfectly normal question. He understood that she is curious about seeing different family dynamics. She used to ask whether it was okay if a child had only one Daddy and no mother before often and he used to reassure her telling that there are more types of family than just a mother and a father.</p><p> </p><p>But for an odd reason, he felt like she had a purpose of asking that question and felt queasy.</p><p> </p><p>“Then can I have two daddies?”</p><p> </p><p>“If I ever have a partner, you can have two daddies as well.”</p><p> </p><p>“What about Kageyama-kun?”</p><p> </p><p>“Ehh?”</p><p> </p><p>“Can I have him as my daddy, if you take him as your partner?”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not as easy as that.” His phone rang, interrupting him from continuing further. Koume got up and ran inside and picked up the phone. At first, he waited for her footsteps to return and when he didn’t hear them, he got up and went inside to look for her.</p><p> </p><p>“My birthday is next Sunday.” She was holding his phone to her ear and was talking animatedly.</p><p> </p><p>“Who are you talking to?”</p><p> </p><p>“I want you to be my Daddy’s partner” she smiled.</p><p> </p><p>“Koume, what are you doing?” he quickened his pace towards where she was but she had faster reflexes and started running away from him.</p><p> </p><p>“Eh, not like that. I want you to be my Daddy.” She said and Hinata ran the opposite side of the couch and came right in front of the direction where she was running as she crashed right into her arms. He struggled to get the phone from her hand as she was waving her arms over her head frantically and Hinata was afraid of using his strength on her to take the phone forcibly from her.</p><p> </p><p>He finally held down one of her hand while she was still trying to talk into the phone “You said you would do anything for my birthday” she screamed onto the phone that was no longer in her hand, emphasizing on the word ‘<em>anything’</em>.</p><p> </p><p>“I did. Maybe I can talk to him about that.”</p><p> </p><p>“K-Kageyama!?” he was shocked. And surprised? And maybe excited? Why was he excited? That wasn’t what this is about.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t just say okay to everything she says. You know, you’re spoiling her.”</p><p> </p><p>“But I was serious. She wanted us to be partners.”</p><p> </p><p>“And she didn’t mean the partners on court.”</p><p> </p><p>“I know. She did mention that she wanted me to be her daddy as well.”</p><p> </p><p>“And why did you agree to that?”</p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t agree because she asked me. It was…just the right thing to say. Wasn’t it?”</p><p> </p><p>“Ehh?”</p><p> </p><p>“So it wasn’t? I’m sorry-”</p><p> </p><p>“No, it’s alright.” Hinata covered his mouth with his one hand, embarrassed while his other hand held the phone “It’s alright.”</p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>“Thank you for agreeing for this interview, Kageyama-san. We didn’t expect you to give us an interview; it was even hard to get in touch with you.”</p><p> </p><p>  “Mmhm.”</p><p> </p><p>“You had given a statement that you wouldn’t be participating in the last Olympics, which was a big shock but it was an even bigger shock when you had revealed your sudden retirement from all fields of volleyball last year, at the age of 34. Following which, we haven’t seen you around as of late. Could you give us more insight into it?”</p><p> </p><p>“As I had said earlier, it was an injury that resulted in me retiring and that my injury is no secret since high-school. If anyone thinks that I have a much more complicated reason than that, I don’t think I can provide you with anything more.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sometimes the truth is much simpler than it originally seems. But there have been talks that your partner from the National team has something to do with it?”</p><p> </p><p>“As I had told you, there is nothing more to it than my injury. What happens between me and Hinata will never affect my game and the same applies to him. We would like to keep our personal and professional life separate and he feels the same way as well.”</p><p> </p><p>“How would you describe your relationship with Hinata?”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know how to describe our relationship or describe him. But some time ago, he called me ‘Winter’. He told me that at one point, I was like Winter to him, cold, harsh and unforgiving but now he had learnt how to deal with. He told that he always had an unnamed fear approaching Winter because of his past but has now learnt to be more upfront and confront it. ‘<em>Not only would it lead to being at ease but perhaps give hope for future love</em>.’ He had told me.</p><p> </p><p>Although I don’t understand completely hat he had said, I feel like I would not be giving a much better answer than that.”</p><p> </p><p>“So, can I take that ring in your finger as a proof for the ‘love’ you talked about?”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s my wedding ring. We got married last week. I’m also legally the father of Koume. She is 11 years old and plays the libero for her team.” The reporter’s hand stopped writing; her mouth formed a slight ‘oh’ as if she wasn’t expecting to get an even bigger scoop than she had initially hoped for.</p><p> </p><p><em>‘I’m going to get a promotion. I have to thank Akaashi-san, no, Bokuto-san, when I get back.’ </em> She thought to herself.</p><p> </p><p>“Congratulations to the couple. We would like to do a future feature with the both of you.”</p><p> </p><p>“No.” Kageyama didn’t even wait for her to finish her statement before he interrupted her.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>‘Geez, it feels like the temperature suddenly dipped right now.’</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>“Alright, it’s okay. Um, Kageyama-san, I didn’t want to ask such a depressing question, personally, after you had revealed such exciting news but it’s my job so I hope you don’t mind.</p><p> </p><p>You have once had a motto that the only thing your heart will ever yearn for is to stand on the court. What does it feel like, knowing that you can’t stand in the court and play any longer?”</p><p> </p><p> “It felt bad. I felt I had no more purpose with my life. I felt like I had reached a dead end.</p><p> </p><p>It wasn’t an easy realization but volleyball is a game where you are not alone. And even if it is a victory or a loss, belongs not only to that one player but to all of them, even the ones in the sidelines who were there the entire time. For me volleyball doesn’t stop with me not standing on court. As long as I can be on the sidelines, I still share the victory and the loss of the team the same way I do when I stood on the court.</p><p> </p><p>It’s my honor that I could be the coach of Shiratorizowa, a school that I have idolized since I was a child and being a part of the team and celebrating their victories.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Besides my brightest Suns in my sky, Hinata and Koume make it up for me by flying high on the court on my stead. I’m proud of both of them and I have no regrets.”</em>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If you're still here...Why?? (And thank you)</p><p>And first things first:</p><p>Koume: 'Little plum' Plum blossom is symbolic for endurance against opposition of cold winters as they bloom in harsh climates.</p><p>I felt like the name suited the running theme present in the story of Hinata trying to brave the winter and such and felt like this name was fitting. Although the entire concept sounded cool in my head, it was an absolute mess when written. </p><p>If you're still reading, thank you and hope you have an amazing time ahead, whatever time you may be reading this. Stay healthy and drink lots of water.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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